Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of wild seaweed harvesting

Seaweed is a significant resource for Scotland.  It is very important environmentally and historically but harvested at a small scale at present.  There is considerable potential for growth and development of its exploitation and use. The UK currently has no large-scale harvesting of seaweed, but in Scotland there are businesses harvesting seaweed at a small scale. The seaweed harvesting sector has recently indicated aspirations to develop large-scale wild seaweed harvesting around the coasts of Scotland.  Marine Scotland has carried out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of wild seaweed harvesting to investigate the sustainability and potential environmental impacts of wild seaweed harvesting.

The layers found in the table below were produced as part of the SEA.  They indicate the existing seaweed resources, the current harvesting methods (by seaweed type) and the proposed future harvesting locations and methods.